Nubeo Black Mamba Watch

The Nubeo Black Mamba is a watch fit for a man. It’s large and imposing, daring and complex -- much like the man behind the brand, Kobe Bryant. Yes, this watch is the love child of a collaboration between boutique watch brand Nubeo (housed in Basel, Switzerland) and the 11-time NBA All-Star. The watch is unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and features the most complex case ever produced by any watch manufacturer. What makes this even more interesting is that the Black Mamba is not simply endorsed by Kobe Bryant; it was designed with his direct influence.

We've all seen the Omega ads featuring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, but Kobe Bryant's involvement with Nubeo is a lot deeper than just posing for a photo. The Black Mamba, designed with the help of one of the NBA’s most prolific players, is sized aggressively at 48 mm (probably to fit Bryant’s NBA-size wrist). It features bold rubber, titanium, and ceramic crowns, pushers and screws. It simply can’t go unnoticed. Aside from the standard model, the Black Mamba also comes in two more exclusive versions. The" Ultimate" features 48 black sapphires around its outer ring (chosen purposefully over black diamonds for their purity and strength), as well as 72 smaller sapphires around the chronograph registers, with the option of replacing 12 of the large black sapphires with orange or whiskey-colored stones. And if you're in the big leagues, the "MVP" version not only has sapphires on the outer ring of the face and chronograph, but also on the bezel. Again, you are given the choice of black sapphires or orange.

All three versions are very limited. The standard Black Mamba will be released in a set of 810, for the 81 points Kobe Bryant scored against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006. The Ultimate will be released in a quantity of 240 (both in full black and black/orange), which relates to Kobe’s jersey number “24.” Finally, only 24 of the top of the line MVP watches will be sold, which is again related to Kobe’s number.

The Black Mamba is a watch that's meant to be worn everywhere, unlike many of its competitors in the same price bracket. To give you an idea of how complex this watch is, the crown alone is made of 14 different components. The Black Mamba is made of some of the most durable materials on earth, DLC (diamond like carbon) steel, titanium, rubber, and ceramics. Just looking at it, you can tell this is a rugged watch. From a style standpoint, however, it remains to be seen how long the Black Mamba will stay en vogue. Black watches were the rage last year, and we may start to see some backlash. The same can be said for the use of DLC and rubber in high-grade watches, but only time will tell how the market will view this daring creation from Nubeo and the NBA super-star.

Ben Clymer is the Executive Editor of Hodinkee.com, a daily blog of the most interesting and unique watches available for sale.